We are All Screaming for the Ice Creaming

Tomorrow is the hub’s birthday. Bean said he needed to go to Chuck E. Cheese for his party. (She was very serious about this.) RayRay said “Yeah, that’s how I want to spend my birthday — chasing kids around a crazy room full of loud, unsupervised kids.” Somehow I think Bean had more fun at her birthday celebration than her Daddy did.

Instead, RayRay has asked me to make a whole mess of homeade ice cream. He likes small and simple celebrations. I’m fine with that since it includes ice cream. Personally, I’d go to the Creole Creamery and eat a Tchopitoulas — that’s 8 scoops of ice cream and 8 toppings. Yum.

In preparation, I bought a mess of eggs and dairy products. In fact, we’ve been making sure all severely depressed lactose-intolerant friends stay away. Otherwise they could really do themselves harm. See…

That’s 4 gallons of milk, 1 quart of whipping cream, 1 quart of half and half (in the back). We also have yogurt for the girls and some whipped cream to put on top of this mess.

So, here’s the three ice creams I’ve mixed and made today. We’ll start freezing them tonight.

Butterfinger Ice Cream

(From AllRecipes.com — Pam West’s recipe)

2 quarts half-and-half cream

1 cup milk

2 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 eggs, beaten

4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 Butterfinger candy bars (2.1 ounces each), chopped

In a large heavy saucepan, heat the cream and milk to 175 degrees F; stir in sugar and salt until dissolved. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into eggs.

Return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches at least 160 degrees F and coats the back of a metal spoon.

Remove from the heat. Cool quickly by placing pan in a bowl of ice water; stir for 2 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Stir in candy bars. Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. Allow to ripen in ice cream freezer or firm up in the refrigerator freezer for 2-4 hours before serving.

Chocolate Ice Cream

(from Tasty Kitchen — LivsMama’s recipe)

½ cups Cocoa Powder

2-½ cups Half-and-half

1-½ cup Heavy Whipping Cream

5 whole Egg Yolks

1 cup Sugar

¾ teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Whisk together the cocoa powder and half and half in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the whipping cream and bring up to a simmer. Stir every so often.

In a separate bowl whisk the egg yolks and then slowly add the sugar. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is pale yellow and creamy. Add the vanilla to the egg mixture.

Add 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture to the yolks and continue to whisk in order to temper the eggs.

Continue to add small amounts of the hot cream mixture to the egg yolks until half of the cream mixture has been mixed into the eggs.

Pour the entire egg/cream mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat until it reaches 170-175 degrees. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until cool (at least 4 hours).

Once the mixture is completely cool, pour into the ice cream maker and follow it’s directions. I normally mix mine in the ice cream maker for 25-30 minutes. It will be the consistency of soft serve right out of the maker. If you prefer your ice cream harder, put it in the freezer for an additional 3-4 hours.

Makes 1 1/2 quarts.

(I love how this says it makes 1 1/2 quarts, but the recipe online says it will make only 4 servings. Now that’s my kind of serving!)

My Grannie’s Ice Cream (the best in the whole entire world — ever)

4 eggs

1 can Carnation milk

1 can Eagle Brand milk

2 tbs flour

1 3/4 – 2 cups sugar

vanilla to taste ( I like to taste a lot… at least 1 Tablespoon)

1/2 gallon whole milk

Beat eggs well with a whisk. Add sugar, flour, & vanilla. Continually stir. Add the canned milk. Then, add part of the 1/2 gallon of milk and heat. Keep mixing to prevent lumping. Don’t let it boil, just heat until warm to cook the eggs. Have the freezer ready & in the fridge. After the mix has cooled (or better yet, ripened in the fridge for a few hours), pour it in the freezer. Add the rest of the milk and turn the paddle to mix. Freeze and enjoy. Even better the second day if any happens to be left.

It’s a very, very good thing that calories and fat don’t count when you’re celebrating anyone’s birthday.

i love how you wrote “a mess of dairy” – you are such a Texas Girl!!!! I love it, I love it!! Have a fun time with your hubbies bday. I am not even making Luke a homemade cake for his bday tomorrow- such a slaker I am. You are awesome!

Creole Creamery was on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives a few nights ago. Brad and I were convinced we neeeded to make a weekend trip to the Big Easy to taste the variety of flavors and unique combinations after drooling during the show. Hope RayRay enjoys his own Creole Creamery at your house this weekend.

I first learned about the Creole Creamery by watching Triple D a few years ago. It is now my favorite ice cream place IN THE WHOLE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. It would be 100% worth a road trip just to have ice cream there. We would join you, so that would make it 200% worth it. :)